The second O-K Silver Conference cross-country jamboree yielded the same team results for both the girls’ and boys’ races, but one Hopkins individual took over the reins as medalist.
The Viking girls and boys again were second to Grandville Calvin Christian, but freshman Laura Velderman surpassed two North Pointe Christian runners who went 1-2 in the first league meet a week earlier.
Velderman checked in with a five-kilometer time of 19:43.28, edging North Pointe ace Lydia Soper, a senior, by 22-hundreths of a second. Kelli Smith, another Mustang, was third at 20:21.63. The next four runners
, fourth through seventh places, were from Calvin Christian, which explains why the Squires won again.
Calvin Christian had 31 team points and Hopkins 53.
Though none of the Hopkins boys did better than eighth, solid grouping enabled them to capture the runner-up slot with 59 points behind Calvin’s 23. Sophomore Ethan Nagel was eighth in 18:42.42. Freshman Dan Rausch (19:12.5), sophomore James Wubben (19:13.15) and senior Michael Heppe (19:43.36) came in 14th, 15th and 16th, all in under 20 minutes, and junior Nick Belka checked in 21st to round out the scoring.
Though Velderman again captured the spotlight, her supporting cast came through to help capture second. Madison Snoeyink was 10th in 22:14.99, junior Megan Teft 13th in 22:28.02, freshman Jasmine Fisher 14th in 22:30.76 and junior Taryn Kilbane 15th in 22:36.38.
The ever-improving Viking girls and boys will test their skills Saturday in the fifth annual Allendale Falcon Invitational.
PHOTOS: Laura Veldeman (right) is all smiles with Lydia Soper of North Point Christian, whom she edged for medalist honors.
Ethan Nagel